Are Watch Obsessives Childish?

 

Comments

[Ulysses]

Do you know who else fit the description of having above average intelligence and obsessive personalities? Here's a clue; they enjoy fava beans and chianti. I'm not saying we're that bad but the circles on that particular Venn diagram overlap a little too much for my liking.

If you ever do take the plunge and try out an Omega, you can flip it just like any other watch. One of the perks of the high-end is that they hold their value very well. It's just the numbers that are nauseating at first, when you're not used to buying and then selling multi-thousand dollar watches, but plenty of people do it. The alternative would be to rent one for a week or two and see how you like it. The reason why i'm pro this course of action is because you'll be torturing yourself until you do. We've all been there before. Agonising over such decisions is like deciding whether or not to rip-off a bandaid.

[herculodge]

I'd love to rent an Omega for a month. That would bring clarity to the situation.

[jonnybardo]

I think at the least you should go try one on. I plan on doing so with a Planet Ocean non-chrono before I buy one.

[Angelo]

Not childish. Child-like. One is negative and should be avoided by adults. The other is positive and should be embraced by adults. Being a child-like watch obsessive is wonderful.

[Angelo]

One thing I've determined about selling watches----is that you have to have the stomach for it, especially more expensive watches and especially if you're doing it on E-Bay. So far, so good for me. But the more money the watch goes for---the higher the risk factor is that you'll be bamboozled by E-Bay's pro-buyer policies and criminally minded buyers who exploit those polices. Just recently, I sold a watch for over $200.00. It was in very good condition, chronograph running flawlessly, keeping perfect time, no marks on crystal, a few superficial scratches on the case that I highlighted in my description and in the photos. Packaged in a hard dive case and I even threw in a few freebies to go with it. It was delivered on Thursday and so far, so good---haven't heard from the seller. But after shipping it, I started having anxiety. Should I have gone for the 2 day shipping instead of standard? What if the battery on this older watch quits in transit? I insured it for $200.00 but made a little more than that. If it's lost, I'm out that extra money. What if the buyer already has the same model, broken----claims I shipped him a watch that's not working, demands a return and refund, and I receive HIS damaged watch back, that's not running? The list goes on and on. Sure, if you're selling watches for $75.00, you tend not to really worry much about it. It's a hassle and it's "invasive" if people lie and cheat you---but you get over it. This north of $200.00 watch puts more panic in the transaction if you have a corrupt buyer who won it. But I would think once you're in that $900.00-thousands range, it would be high anxiety to sell watches this way---ship something worth $2000.00 in a box and hope you're not being set up to be ripped off. Maybe I have a trust problem, but on the other hand, if you search Google or Bing, you'll find threads of sellers of things like smart phones complaining about buyers who cheated them and E-Bay standing up for the buyers, against the sellers. It's a cause for concern. And the problem with selling locally----a non-bidding situation----is that I think on higher priced watches, you'd lose hundreds buying and selling, especially if you're buying new and then of course, selling used.

[Angelo]

By the way, forgot to note: Not sure if this is correct or not, but I read that E-Bay buyers have 45 days to open a dispute against the seller. Forty. Five. Days. That's insane. They receive a fully functional watch in nice condition. Then they bang it around for a month----it stops working, and they open a dispute to return it?

[Ulysses]

I was thinking of selling it via watch forums. They'd be less inclined to screw you around.

[Angelo]

Ulysses: That might be a better option. I don't know if I'm right about this or not---but for some reason, I feel as though the people buying and selling relatively expensive watches on a watch forum might be more trustworthy than online auction audiences. I think Jeff has used Amazon too.